Cash Money.

So I’ve been doing some research on how / where to sell my wedding & engagement ring, and I happened upon this site. You should go check it out, it’s hilarious and awesome. I don’t think I’ll be mailing my diamonds to them by any stretch, but I love that they give you a “breakup box” for your wares. Speaking of, does anybody have ideas where I really MIGHT be able to sell the rings? I don’t do Ebay, and Craigslist just seems too sad. Have any of my dear readers been in such a bind? Impart your wisdom, O internet.

So, I just recently had my wife’s antique wedding band repaired/restored. Little did I know it was made from platnium. Right now platnium is at a historical high, so definately sell the whole ring. I woulnd’t be surprised if the platinum alone was worth $1000.

Ok, so I’m glad I was the first comment right after this went up. I checked my jeweler’s site and they sell “certified non-conflict diamonds” and nothing about buying. I don’t think that means they *won’t* buy, but, probably not. Hooray research! Are you still in Boston? I could probably find you a dealer in town. Not so good away from the city though.

You haven’t said but those rings might not be yours to sell. Has Katsumi asked for them to be returned? In a divorce, wedding and engagement rings are considered a property that must be returned to the giver, or at least the giver is entitled to ask for them to be returned.

Actually, anon, the rings are considered a conditional gift, and are more often than not awarded to the recipient. Basically, the engagement ring is given in consideration of the eventual marriage, and by fulfilling that obligation I would (likely) be entitled to keep it. While the rings can be considered marital property, they are generally given to the wife.

Erin, I sold the e-ring from my starter wedding to a Jeweler in Hingham. The place is called Jewels and it is in the Derby Street Shops. I only went there because I lived in Quincy at the time so you might be able to find something local. I think there is a place on Rte 1 in Foxboro in the plaza just North of Gillette (D’Angelos-Papa Ginos) and jewelry 🙂 Some jewelers will take rings and sell them on consignment for you. The bummer is you get a fraction of what they are valued at. I turned my wedding band into my quarter life crisis\divorce gift and turned it in to a platinum right hand ring. Good Luck!

Caryl – I definitely need the money. I thought about having my engagement ring reset into another piece of jewelry (the diamond is gorgeous) or even just keeping it (because it’s gorgeous) but even if I can only get half of what it’s worth, I think it would be better for me to sell.

I tried to sell 2 rings from an ex relationship years back (a diamond and emerald ring + an aquamarine and diamong ring) and went to Stephen Leighs in Quincy. The man there told me though my pieces were nice, they were sad and were too obviously “jewlery from an ex boyfriend”, Seriously? So don’t go there.

For what it’s worth, privately selling will be the best way to make any money from it. Diamonds aren’t as “precious” as brides are made to think. In fact, they’re pretty inexpensive, so a jeweler buying a diamond *from* you will give you a very low price for them (less than pennies on the dollar). The same with the metals — they’re not worthless, but they sell for something like a 5000% mark-up on the actual value. There was an old wedding set that my parents found 20 years ago at the beach and when I was in college and hurting for money, they suggested I sell it. It was a nice set with a 1.5ct center stone and had a thick 24kt gold band — I was offered $12 for it. No joke. I went to several places, consignment shops, etc. and I think the highest bid that I got was around $20. 😦 [we ended up keeping it, it’s in a jewelry box, waiting to be made into a necklace or something]

When I got married I had a very small diamond (was all we could afford) and inexpensive ring, but the (mall chain) jeweler has a ‘trade in’ kind of program. Basically, the gold and the diamonds accrue a certain percentage of value every year and I can take it to the same jeweler and have them apply that toward any new item in the store. Mine was REALLY inexpensive, but over the past 9 years it’s accrued about 1/3 the value. So, say the ring was $600, it’s now worth $800 in store credit. Maybe yours is the same? This won’t give you cash-in-hand, but maybe you could get something else that you want instead? Or you could negotiate with someone ready to buy from that jeweler — like they would give you the cash for your credit?